Goddess [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

Thoiugh not the first, best or most intriguing of the groundbreaking female pop stars, Madonna has some sort of hold over the American attention, possibly because she changed her image so often. But don't expect an easy read in Barbara Victor's "Goddess" -- this one is less than divine.

The book opens with Madonna preparing for her role in the musical "Evita," based on the life of Eva Peron. This turned out to be the turning point of Madonna's life: It was in the period when she became pregnant, cleaned up her act somewhat, and made her first (and so far, only) acclaimed movie.

Then it bobs back to the arrive of the immigrant Ciccone family in the United States, the early days of Madonna's parents, and the tragedies that her family never recovered from. From there, it tracks her as she became a struggling dancer, whose sexual dancepop became a massive hit. After a disastrous short marriage, many boyfriends (and girlfriends), a porn book, and an unfortunate movie career, she finally settled down with director Guy Richie to become the not-so-quintessential British wife and mother.

Madonna is a bit of a love-her-or-hate-her person, especially since she has none of the warmth, stability or humour of similar pop stars like Deborah Harry. So it's not surprising that Victor's biography will probably inspire ire or delight in anyone who reads it... assuming they can get through it at all.

There's a strange split in Victor's opinions on Madonna. She compares Madonna to the ancient virgin goddesses (huh?), and excuses much of her behavior. Then she ruthlessly shows Madonna's shallowness, sexual obsessiveness and arrogance. How? By the most damning evidence: her own words. Victor uses interview quotes, video footage, and even a behind-the-scenes special where she openly mocks and humiliates a childhood friend.

There is some interesting information, such as analysis of Madonna's songs and music videos, although Victor (like Madonna herself) focuses way too much on the loss of her mother. And were Victor able to cobble together all this information into a straightforward biography, she might be a pretty good writer.

Unfortunately, Victor is actually a pretty bad writer. There's a lot of meaty information here, but no linear series of events. It's very distracting to jerk the readers from Madonna's toddlerhood to her adult career, sometimes in the same page. But that's what Victor does. Even worse, this choppy biography is laced with endless psychoanalyzation, and a tendency to demonize or beatify people as Madonna sees them, not as they actually are.

Split adoration/disdain and a choppy narrative make "Goddess" a chore rather than a guilty pleasure, as a "scandalous" biography ought to be. Whatever you think of Madonna, this "Goddess" is unholy.

Like a horrific train wreck that you can't take your eyes off, I could not put down this 400 page book written by Barbra Victor about Madonna. The feeling I'm left with? Like I've been punched in the gut and am left trying to catch my breath. I can not belive that such a poorly put together and unimaginitive "biography" is actually in print and being sold. It was nothing more than an endless, tiresome commentary about what and where Barbara Victor assumes is the life of Madonna based on circumstances throughout various stages. This biography boldly states the facts of the life of Madonna based on the assumptions of the author. The book does not flow, you are jerked back and forth between commentary and background information on what Miss Victor deems to be relative facts surrounding what she assumes to be life events. In all, I don't feel I have learned anything new about Madonna - I feel that I have wasted 20 hours reading a tiresome commentary that could have been a 3 page magazine article. I don't see the book based on fact and do not rely on it as a credible source of the life of this star. The book could have flowed better, could have been written with depth, could have been written from facts instead of just opinion. This tiresome effort has given me, for the first time in my life, an author whose books/works I refuse to read in the future. If this is all that Madonna has to worry about when faced with a tell-all biography written about her, then I am sure she sleeps well at night.

This is the masters of Madonna's history. It's full of all the juicy details one would expect to read in a book about a mega star like Madonna. She's truly a one of a kind and this book tells all you'd want to know. I truly enjoyed every minute I spent with it.